In The Boys Season 4 finale, titled “Season Four Finale” (previously titled “Assassination Run”), Firecracker (Valorie Curry) is sick. She’s coughing, she’s sweating, and Homelander (Antony Starr) isn’t having any of it. But despite what you may think — she has the Supe virus — she’s actually sick because of the side effects of Metoclopramide.
To take a big step back here, we’ve previously covered that Firecracker is taking the drug Metoclopramide back when it was revealed during Season 4, Episode 4 “Wisdom of the Ages.” In the episode, Frenchie (Tomer Capone) is investigating the Supe’s trailer while she hosts a six-hour-long VNN special in order to rile up Annie (Erin Moriarty). While rifling through her possessions, he finds a pill bottle for one Misty Tucker Gray (presumably Firecracker’s real name) filled with Metoclopramide.
As it turns out, Firecracker was taking Metoclopramide in order to spur on lactation, so she could give breast milk to Homelander right from the source. Unfortunately for Firecracker, Metoclopramide has a ton of bad side effects… And that’s what’s revealed during the finale. During a scene in The Seven conference room, Homelander yells at the hacking Firecracker, and demands she take a “ricola.”
“Sorry, sir. I’m — I’m so sorry,” Firecracker stammers. “I’m just… The meds, you know. You know, the… The meds.”
And just in case you missed the implication, the camera pans down to Firecracker’s breasts, with the breast milk in the foreground. “They’re just, they’re just causing a little heart palpitation and high fever, ain’t no big thing.”
Unfortunately for Firecracker, Homelander doesn’t care and kicks her all the way down the conference table to get her coughing and sweating away from him. Bummer, Firecracker, hope you don’t die from your unnecessary drug use!
Does Firecracker Have The Supe Virus, Though?
So, I get this is a little confusing. A major plot point of the entire first season of Gen V as well as this season of The Boys is a Supe virus, aka a virus that kills those infused with Compound V. When you see Firecracker sick, it seems reasonable to think the two plot points are connected. They are not.
I’ve also seen speculation online that Sage (Susan Heyward) put the Supe virus in the Metoclopramide in order to weaken Homelander, so she can eventually kill him. To that… Maybe? But there’s no indication that Sage gave Firecracker the Metoclopramide, nor is Homelander weakening in any way other than the natural aging process he’s been reckoning with in Season 4. And as we’re about to explain in a second, Firecracker is going through the actual side effects of the real drug Metoclopramide.
Enough theorizing, let’s break it down.
What Are The Side Effects Of Metoclopramide?
Let’s get this out of the way, first. The main use of Metoclopramide is as a cancer drug, not a lactation drug. According to the National Institute of Health, “Metoclopramide is a dopamine receptor antagonist and has been approved by the FDA to treat nausea and vomiting in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease or diabetic gastroparesis by increasing gastric motility. It is also used to control nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients.”
That said, some studies looked into the idea that Metoclopramide might increase lactation in breastfeeding mothers. The studies, as far as my research has shown, did not pan out. There was, and is no conclusive proof that Metoclopramide increases lactation in any significant way. Not only that, it has some pretty nasty side effects: per the NIH again, side effects of Metoclopramide included heart palpitations, dizziness, depression, and more.
So yeah, everything Firecracker is going through on The Boys is a real side effect of Metoclopramide. Not manipulation by Sage, not a plot to take down Homelander, nor the Supe virus. It’s just Firecracker putting herself in mortal danger for — as she discovers in the finale — a man who doesn’t care about her in the least.
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